Upping your blog game

Now I am by no means an expert, or a professional blogger, but I wanted to share some of my tips on how I think we could all be upping our blog game.

Take better photographs

Now I’ve touched on this before in my how to take better blog pictures post, and background ideas for blog pictures post but I’m a firm believer that you don’t need to be a professional photographer to make it as a blogger. But everyone can take better pictures. Whether you choose to invest in a camera upgrade or just want to master your current offering, take the time to learn about your camera and what makes a good picture, and you’ll improve your picture taking ability in no time. After all, a picture tells a thousand words, so make it a good one and you’re blog will stand out amongst the crowd.

Schedule your posts

I spend half hour a weekend planning out what I want to post for the following week, and planning what pictures I’ll need for each post. I find this helps me stay on top of blogging and pushes me to keep to a schedule. I know some people use an excel spreadsheet, for others they prefer a print out calendar to write on, but for me I just write a list for each day. I plan in my regular features, blogging tips on a Saturday and a video on a Sunday,  and then work on how to fill the days in between. It honestly saves me so much time and helps me stay on top of blogging.

Stay social on social media

This is so important and one that I seriously need to work harder on. Scheduling social media posts has got to be on the most helpful tools there is to attracting new followers. It can be time consuming to schedule all the posts for the week, but I think it’s worth it. I know a lot of my readers come through Instagram and Twitter, so I need to make more of an effort in those areas to attract new readers.

Be professional

This is another one that I could take my own advice on. It’s so important to be professional when it comes to working with brands and sticking to deadlines. That means replying to emails, being clear about what you can deliver for each opportunity and coming up with creative ways to work with other bloggers or brands. And don’t just be nice to brands or PRs, be nice to other bloggers as well. Being bitchy about other people’s success is firstly not cool, and secondly not professional. Blogging is a huge community, and we’re all in it together, let’s just be nice rather than bitchy.

Build your brand

Your blog is a brand, so make sure it’s looking professional. I don’t mean go and employ a super expensive designer to re-design your blog, although I would love to do that. I mean take the time to think about what you want your brand to represent. And make sure it’s consistent across all your social media channels. There are hundreds of cheaper designers out there on Etsy or Twitter who produce some amazing, and purse friendly designs for your blog. From logos and blog buttons to headers and signatures. Find the look for you and make sure it matches the feel of your blog and the brand you want to create.

Let me know if these tips have helped you, and what other tips you have for upping your blog game.